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Valhalla Museum

The unique Valhalla collection is situated within Tresco Abbey Garden and contains some 30 figureheads, as well as name boards and other decorative ships’ carvings from the days of sail.

Over the years, many ships and lives have been lost on the rocky coasts of the Scillies and it is from shipwrecks – mostly of merchant vessels – that the collection was built up, starting in about 1840, by Augustus Smith of Tresco Abbey, ‘Lord Proprietor’ of the Islands. The figureheads in the Valhalla collection represent the final century in a tradition dating back over 3,000 years. From earliest times ships’ bows have carried carvings of human or animal forms as part of the overall decoration of the vessels. The figures have altered over the centuries. Their pattern, size and shape have adapted to fit new types of ships’ hulls, while their artistic style has changed to reflect contemporary fashions.

At Valhalla, most of the figureheads date from the middle and end of the 19th century and come from merchant sailing vessels or early steamships that were wrecked on the Isles of Scilly. As such the collection is a random cross-section from generally modest vessels, whose small and simple figureheads contrast with larger naval examples surviving elsewhere, such as the figurehead of HMS Ajax in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

You can see the Valhalla collection as part of your visit to Abbey Garden. We have a special Valhalla Challenge for under 11s which involves surviving a ship wreck, finding life-saving plants in the garden and discovering the name of their resue ship in the museum. Visitors can puchase Trails Packs at the Abbey Garden ticket office.

We recommend a visit to the National Maritime Museum website which is full of fascinating information about British maritime history. We would also like acknowledge the use of their descriptions for the figureheads on display on Tresco.

The figureheads in the Valhalla collection represent the final century in a tradition dating back over 3,000 years.

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

Valhalla - Alessandro Il Grande 1851 -

On 1 January 1851, the Alessandro II Grande was wrecked on the Mare ledges, off the south shore of Tresco. Remarkably, there was no loss of life. The figurehead depicts Tsar Alexander I of Russia, who reigned from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825.

Valhalla - Association 1707 -

The exhibits at Valhalla are not limited solely to figureheads. In one corner of Valhalla’s gravel terrace stands a large seventeenth century cannon. It is 3.15 metres long (ten feet and four inches) and weighs between two and three tonnes. In its day, the cannon would have been capable of firing an eighteen pound ball.

Valhalla - Award 1861 -

At 1.00am on Tuesday 19th March 1861 an 846 ton sailing ship struck rocks, one and a half miles off Gweal. Bound for New Orleans from Liverpool, this was only the second voyage undertaken by the Award. It was to be her last. The seas were heavy and the severe winds (NNW force 8/9) drove the Award on to the north end of the small, barren island of Gweal.

Valhalla - Bandoeng 1917 -

The lifebuoy to the left of the figurehead is from a Dutch steamer, which was one of six sunk by a German U-boat on 22nd February 1917. All of the Bandoeng’s crew survived.

Valhalla - Bernardo 1888 -

The Bernardo was an Italian barque of 701 tons that had gone ashore on Annett. All crew except the captain were lost. Captain Dapelo swam to Old Woman’s Rock from where he was rescued by islanders from St Agnes.

Valhalla - Boreas -

This 17th century stern decoration is believed to have been from a French ship wrecked on Annett in the 1600s. It is thought to be carved by Pierre Puget. The figures would have been positioned so that they were blowing into the sails.

Valhalla - Dolphin -

The provenance of this figurehead is unknown.

Valhalla - Female Half-figure -

The provenance of this figurehead is unknown.

Valhalla - Female Half-figure -

The provenance of this figurehead is unknown.

Valhalla - Flora and Unknown Female Figure -

The Flora name board was allegedly taken from a wreck from 1853 but there is no documentary evidence for this. The provenance of the female figure carved into the billet-head is unknown.

Valhalla - Friar Tuck 1863 -

On 27th November 1863, the 662 ton, fully laden tea clipper Friar Tuck found herself in St Mary’s Pool, Isles of Scilly, seeking protection from bad weather. The ship and her crew were returning to Liverpool from China. The storm proved, however, too great and the ship was lost, although its valuable cargo of tea was salvaged by islanders.

Valhalla - Golden Lion -

Little is known of this exhibit but it is supposed to have come from a wreck at Land’s End.

Valhalla - Indipendenza 1881 -

The Indipendenza was wrecked on the Barrel of Butter, at St Mary’s western tip, having already hit the Crim several times after becoming lost in fog. A 637 ton wooden barque, she was on her way from Valparaiso to Rotterdam.

Valhalla - Jane Owen 1889 -

This schooner was carrying 130 tons of slate when she broke her cable and struck Half-tide Rock in Tresco Channel on 3rd March 1889. Her crew of four made it onto Tresco with just the clothes they stood in.

Valhalla - Lofaro 1902 -

The attractive billet-head is from a 721 ton wooden barque, Lofaro. She was wrecked on Merrick Rock, off St Martin’s in February 1902. All hands were lost despite the efforts of islanders from St Martin’s and the lifeboat.

Valhalla - Mary Hay 1852 -

A 258 ton wooden barque, the Mary Hay was on her way back from Jamaica. She struck Steeple Rock, despite having a local pilot on board. Efforts were made to pump her out but she suddenly capsized off Samson. No lives were lost. Much of her cargo was saved, including rum, lime juice and pimentos.

Valhalla - Palinurus 1848 -

On 27th December 1848, the Palinurus was lost with all hands. A 300 ton barque, she was on her way back from Demerara, carrying rum.

Valhalla - Primos 1871 -

The Primos was an iron barque, built in Sunderland in 1869. She was registered in Bilbao and carried sugar from Havana to Falmouth and Greenock. On 24th June 1871, around dawn, the Primos struck the Seven Stones and sank, taking with her the entire crew.

Valhalla - Puritan Lady -

The provenance of this figurehead is unknown.

Valhalla - Rosa Tacchini 1872 -

The Rosa Tacchini was an Italian barque on her way from Buenos Aires to Antwerp in November 1872. Her cargo comprised of hides, horns, hooves, tallow and wool, part of the harvest of Argentinian livestock. On reaching Scilly, she was caught in a severe storm while at anchor between St Mary’s and Tresco. She parted one of her cables, drifted towards Tresco Flats, struck Paper Ledge twice before grounding on rocks.

Valhalla - Serica 1893 -

On 16th November 1893, Smith and the Serica left Cardiff for Port Said in Egypt. The vessel was a 2,652 ton schooner-rigged, steel screw steamer, with a crew of 25 and a cargo of coal. A day out of port and the Serica found herself caught in a fierce storm off the Devon coast, near Hartland Point. She managed to make it to Scilly, where she hit rocks and was abandoned.

Valhalla – Stern board of the Colossus 1798 -

This is a detail from the stern board of HMS Colossus, which was wrecked off Samson in 1798. She was on her way back from the Mediterranean, carrying wounded from the Battle of the Nile and a sizeable collection of ancient artefacts belonging to Sir William Hamilton, then British Envoy at Naples.

Valhalla - Thames 1841 -

S.S. Thames was a 500 ton paddle-steamer, whose regular route was between Dublin and London. Built in 1827, the Thames belonged to the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. On Saturday 2nd January 1841, she steamed out of Dublin with 66 people on board. Two days later, she struck the Western Rocks. There were only four survivors.